Swisher’s HRs dims Rays hope
Nick Swisher hit his second home run of the game, connecting with one out in the ninth inning to lead the New York Yankees over Tampa Bay 3-2 Tuesday night and send the Rays to their season-high seventh straight loss.
The switch-hitting Swisher connected from both sides of the plate. He won it with a left-handed shot off Dan Wheeler (4-4).
Derek Jeter struck out three times and remained stuck in his longest slump of the year, moving no closer to the Yankees hit record held by Lou Gehrig.
Rays rookie David Price fanned Jeter his first three times up, twice catching him looking. The Yankees star had nothing to show for four at-bats, leaving him in an 0-for-12 rut and still four hits behind Gehrig’s total of 2,721.
Mariano Rivera (2-2) pitched a perfect ninth as the Yankees won for the 12th time in 15 games.
Swisher homered in the second and Alex Rodriguez had an RBI single in the sixth.
Marlins 4, Mets 2: Hanley Ramirez and Cameron Maybin each hit a long two-run homer, and Florida beat New York to keep up their surprising playoff push.
Florida overcame an early exit by injured starter Rick VandenHurk and remained six games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East. The Marlins, who opened the season with a major league-low $37 million payroll, began the day 5 1/2 back of Colorado for the NL wild card.